The present disclosure generally relates to printing technologies and, in particular, to generating a user interface for printing.
Printers are made by various manufacturers with varying characteristics and capabilities. For example, some printers print only in black and white while others may also print in color. Some printers may be able to print in higher resolution than others or handle more sizes of paper or different types of paper (e.g., photo paper, cardstock, envelopes, etc.) than other printers. Some printers may be able to print on both sides, collate, or staple.
Installing a printer typically involves connecting a computer to a printer, downloading an appropriate printer driver to the computer, and installing the printer driver on to the computer. The installation of the printer driver is generally specific to the printer (e.g., the printer type, printer characteristics, and printer manufacturer) and the operating system of the computer.
Once installed, applications running on the operating system of the computer may be able to communicate with the printer and send print jobs to the printer. For example, a user may initiate a print command from an application running on the computer. Once a print command is initiated, a user interface (e.g., a print dialog) may be presented to the user to allow the user to select print options and submit the final printing instructions to the printer. This user interface is typically provided by the printer manufacturer and may be specific to the printer and the operating system of the computer.